Sauvage, H. E., 1877. Considération sur la faune ichtyologique des eaux douces de l'Asie et en particulier de l'Indochine. C. r. Ass. Avanc. Sci., 6ѐ. Sess, Congrѐs du Havre, pp. 615-620. (Kate Spear & Noémie Legras, Trans.)

Considerations on the freshwater ichthyological fauna of Asia and particularly Indochina

Upon examining the freshwater ichthyological fauna of Asia (pl. XI), there are four large regions to consider; each characterized by a number of genera, these regions, although distinct, merge at their borders with neighboring regions, as do all zoological regions elsewhere.

In the northern, or Siberian, region, we note the predominance of European varieties, perch, carp, burbot, gudgeon, bouviere, tench, and still others; carp and Misgurnus anguillicaudatus are common in this region and in northern China. In the eastern region, Siniperca (S. Chuatsi, Chuantsi, Matsaki), represent the European perch; Gobio imberbis, argentatus, nigripinnis, nitens, the gudgeon of Europe; Pseudophoxinus oxycephalus, our minnow; Rhodeus sinensis, our bouviere, Cobitis japonica and Cobitis sinensis, our loach; Anguilla japonica, our common eel. But alongside these European varieties, we find others characteristic of the eastern region, such as Saurogobio, Rhinogobio, Acanthorhodeus, Pseudobrama, Barilius, Opsariichthys, Hypophthalmus, Parabramis, Hemiculter, Culter, Elopichthis, Chanodichthys, Paracanthobrama, Xenocypris, Oreonectes, Ctenopharyngodon, to mention only the most characteristic of them.

The presence of Mastacembelidae (M. sinensis, maculatus), Labyrinthici (Anabas oligolepis, Macropodus viridiauratus), Ophicephalidae (O. argus, nigricans, grandinosus, etc.); Eleotris (E. potamophila, obscurus, Swinhonis, butis, etc.); Hemibagrus (H. macropterus, taphrophilus); Leiocassis (L. crassilabris); Puntius of the Barbodes group (B. deauratus, sinensis); and Capoeta (C. Guntheri); bears more resemblance to the southern, or Asian, region.

The genera Pseudogobio, Pseudorasbora, Achilognathus, Opsariichthys Misgurnus are also common between China and Japan; Japan is connected, furthermore, by the ichthyological fauna of these waters to the Chinese region.

There have already been recorded, in the waters of this last region, shells of the Unios group, which are analogous to those of the freshwaters of North America; we also noted in northern China the presence of the genus Sclerognathus (S. asiaticus), of the Catostomina group, of which all other species are American.

The western region possesses, as should be expected, affinities with Europe, east Africa, and the Asian region itself. This western region, which includes Asia Minor, Persia, and Mesopotamia, has, along with Africa, the genus Chromis, of which the group is from Africa and tropical America; among the Cyprins we note the genus Barbus, widespread in Europe and Asia Minor, though the center of creation of the genus seems to be in the warm regions of Africa. Leuciscus, Aspius, and Alburnus are common to Europe and this region; the genera Alburnus and Aspius are however more from western Asia than from Europe; similarly to the southern region, the western region has the genera Tylognathus (T. nanus), Discognathus (D. variabilis) and Nemachilus, which we have already reported in China and Japan; in the same family of Cyprinidae, the genera Capœta, Cyprinion, Acanthobrama are specific to the region; the Silures are represented here by the genus Euclytosternon, of the Bagarina group, a genus which is found in the Asian region, and by the genus Clarias, widespread in Africa, India, and China. The western region is characterized, in short, by the absence of Ophicephalidae and Labyrinthici.

As for the southern region, it could be appointed the ultimate Asian region. We found here Labyrinthici and Ophicephalidae, which we had already found in the eastern region, but here these two families are at their maximum development and present a number of special genera. Among the Siluridae, in the Heteropterae group, of 21 genera, 17 are only found in this region; in the Proteropterae group, of 18 genera, 12 are reported in India and its islands. For the Cyprins, the species of this region are too numerous to mention all of them, so we will instead list the genera: Dangila, Osteochilus, Crossochilus, Epalzeorhynchus, Cyclocheilichthys, Thynnichthys, Amblyrrhynchichthys, Schizothorax, Rohteichthys, Luciosoma, Nuria, Danio, Pteropsarion, Bola, Barbichthys, Osteobrama, Smiligaster, Eustira, Chela, Homaloptera, Lepidocephalichthys, Acanthopsis, Lepidocephalus, Acanthophthalmus.

This southern region is divided into two geographically distinct sub-regions, India and Indochina; the islands of the Malay Archipelago, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ambon Island, and the islands below the Wallace Line belonging to Indochina. The freshwater fauna of India is well known since the time of Hamilton Buchanam’s writing; thanks to the work of Mr. Bleeker, the fauna of the Indian archipelago is one of the best described; the freshwater fish of Indochina, however, were represented only by a few species brought to the British Museum by Henry Mouhot or to the Museum of Paris by Mr. Bocourt, until, thanks to the zeal of Mr. J. Jullien and Mr. Harmand, the Museum of Paris received a number of freshwater fish from Cochinchina and Siamese and Cambodian Laos. The collections addressed by the two travelers we just cited, compared with the species of the same region already indicated, allow us to establish a list of species found in Indochina – 116 species distributed between the families of Labyrinthici (8 species), Ophicephalidae (4 species), Mastacembelidae (3 species), Nandidae (1 species), Siluridae (38 species), Cyprinidae (61 species) and Apodes (1 species).

Upon studying these species and comparing to the freshwater fish found in the Indian peninsula, we see that only a few species are common to both peninsulas. In the Siluridae family, for example, of the 38 species, we note only 6 present in both India and Indochina. In the Cyprinidae family, of 61 species, only 7 are found in both India and Indochina. The Ophicaephalidae and Labyrinthici families have a larger geographic distribution; of 12 species, we can cite 8 found in both regions.

The affinities of Indochina’s ichthyofauna are, by contrast, with the islands of the Malay Archipelago located below the Wallace Line—Borneo, Sumatra, and Java; it is not only an affinity between the ichthyofauna, but a complete similitude; the species of Cyprins and Siluroides are identical in Indochina and these three islands. We must conclude that at a recent geological era, Java, Borneo and Sumatra were connected, to each other and to the Indochina peninsula. Thanks to this connection by land, a certain number of species were able to disperse, while others remained in their original territories, varying and giving rise to local species or, rather, types. This similarity between the ichthyofauna of Indochina and of the Malay islands, as opposed to the differences with the Indian fauna, confirms that in this region, there are two distinguishable ichthyological sub-regions: the Indian sub-region and the Indo-Malay sub-region.

Of the 38 species of Siluroïdes known in Indochina, 3 species are new and particular to the region; 8 are found in Borneo; 6 in Sumatra; 4 in Java; 3 in Bangka; 1 species is present in Indochina, Java and Borneo; 2 are found in Cochinchina, Sumatra, and Borneo; and 2 are found in Sumatra, Borneo and Java.

Of the 61 species of Cyprins, we note only 19 particular to Indochina, and of these, 14 are new to science; 10 species are present in Borneo, Sumatra and Java; 7 in Borneo and Sumatra; 5 in Sumatra and Java; 3 only in Sumatra; 2 only in Java; 1 only in Borneo; 1 species is present in Java and India; and 6 species in India.

It is apparent, then, that the strongest similarities between Indochina ichthyofauna and that of neighboring regions are first with Borneo, then Sumatra, and finally Java.

The conclusions we have reached on the similarities between the islands of the Indian Archipelago with Indochina emerge, no doubt, in the following list of species:

Labyrinthici

Anabas scandens Dald., – Osphronemus olfax Comm., – Trichopus trichopterus Pall.; T. siamensis Gthr.; T. microlepis Gthr.; T. parvipinnis Sauvg.; T. striatus C.V. – Betta pugnax Cant.

Ophicephalidae

Ophicephalus striatus Bl.; O. siamensis Gthr.; O. micropeltes C.V., O. Lucius C.V., O. melanosma Blkr.; O. Stevensi, Blkr.

Mastacembelidae

Mastacembelus argus Gthr.; M. erythrotoenia Blkr. – Rhynchobdella aculeata Bl.

Nandidae

Catopra fasciata Blkr.

Siluridae

Clarias macrocephalus Gthr.; C. leiacanthus Blkr. – Plotosus canius H.B. – Saccobranchus fossilis Bl. – Silurus Cochinchinensis C.V. – Wallago attu Bl. – Belodontichthys macrochir Blkr. – Micronema Bleekeri Boc. – Macrones nemurus C.V. – Callichrous hypophthalmus Blkr.; C. bimaculatus C.V. – Pangasius Larnandi Boc.; P. macronema Blkr.; P. pleurotœnia Sauvg.; P. Djombal Blkr. – Pseudopangasius polyuranodon Blkr.; P. nasutus, Blkr. - Helicophagus Wandersii Blkr,; H. hypophthalmus Sauvg. – Hypselobagrus nigriceps C.V.; H micracanthus Blkr.; H. Wolffi Blkr. – Bagroides macropterus Blkr. – Hemibagrus nemurus C.V. – Heterobagrus Bocourti Blkr. – Pseudobagrus brachysoma Gthr. - Leiocassis pœcilopterus C.V. – Arius truncatus C.V.; A. macracanthus Gthr.; A. cochinchinensis Gthr.; A. Cœlatus C.V. – Hemiarius Stormii Blkr. – Hemipimelodus borneensis Blkr,; H. macrocephalus Blkr,; H. siamensis Sauvg. – Bagarius Yarrellii Sykes. – Pseudobagrichthys macropterus Blkr. – Ketengus typus Blkr.

Cyprinidae

Catla Buchamani C.V. – Carassius auratus L. – Osteochilus Hasseltii C.V. – Labeo aurovittatus Sauvg. – Cosmochilus Harmandi Sauvg. – Barbichthys nitidus Sauvg. – Puntius lœneis Gthr.; P. altus Gthr.; P. rubripinnis C.V.; P. javanicus Blkr.; P. gonionotus Blkr.; P. erythropterus Blkr.; P. bulu Blkr.; P. leiacanthus Blkr.; P. proctozysron Blkr. – Cyclocheilichltys Dumerilii Blkr.; C. apogonoides Blkr.; C. siaja Blkr.; C. macracanthus Blkr.; C. armatus C.V. – Dangila lineata Sauvg.; D. Cuvieri C.V.; D. leptochila C.V. – Rohita brachynotus Blkr.; R. barbatula Sauvg.; R. pectoralis Sauvg.; R. sima Sauvg. – Cirrhina microlepis Sauvg.; C. aurata Sauvg.; C. Jullieni Sauvg. – Macrocirichthys uranoscopus Blkr. – Morulius chrysosphekadion Blkr.; M. dinema Blkr. – Osteochilus melanopleurus Blkr.; O. Schlegelii Blkr.; O. borneeneis Blkr.; O. Hasseltii C.V.; O. brachynopterus Blkr. – Crossochilus reba H.B.; C. Langii Blkr. – Hampala macrolepidota K.H. – Balantiocheilos melanopterus Blkr. – Thynnichthys thynnoides Blkr. – Amblyrhynchichthys truncatus Blkr. – Leptobarbus Hoeveni Blkr. – Rasbora Einthoveni Blkr.; R. Dusoniensis Blkr.; R. Daniconius H.B. – Morara siamensis Blkr. – Luciosoma spilopleura Blkr. – Chela siamensis Gthr. – Pseudolaubuca lateralis Sauvg. – Homaloptera lineata C.V. – Nemachilus spilopterus C.V. – Botia modesta Blkr.; B. hymenophysa Blkr.; B. helodes Sauvg.; B. rubripinnis Sauvg. – Acanthopthalmus Kuhlii C.V. – Acanthopsis chrysorhynchus Blkr. – Misgurnus laœnsis Sauvg.

Apodes

Monopterus javanicus Lacép.